The Law School 'Shark Tank' Is Literally Driving Students Crazy

By the third year of law school, roughly 40 per cent of students show signs of depression, according to a new National Law Journal report.As part of a special report on stressed-out students, NLJ reported Monday on what’s driving students crazy.

Georgetown law student Rebecca Stellato, for one, said she wasn’t prepared for the “shark tank” atmosphere there that wasn’t conducive to happiness at all.

“There were a lot of Type-A personalities, and they make it so much more stressful than it needs to be,” she said. “It’s not healthy for anyone.”

Law students usually get depressed because they value “external measures” such as grades and class rank too much, Florida State law professor Lawrence Krieger told NLJ. Instead, he said, students should focus on relationships with others and self-improvement.

Krieger also said “thinking like a lawyer” poses problems for students.

“In their first semester, students are taught to basically ignore their feelings and values and take on a new value system in which the best argument wins,” he told NLJ. “It’s no longer about caring for people, who students now refer to as ‘parties.'”